The Mork
The Mork and Mindy Special a one-hour, two episode story arc for Mork and Mindy, the spinoff of Happy Days. Written by Dale McRaven, both episodes in the episode arc, directed by Howard Storm, premiered on ABC-TV on September 14, 1978. Plot summary Part 1 Mork's boss, Orson, assigns Mork to study the planet Earth. After landing in the woods near Boulder, Colorado, he meets Mindy McConnell who was stranded there by her lecherous boyfriend. Back at Mindy's apartment, she discovers that Mork is an alien, and offers to help him study Earth. In a flashback sequence, Mork tells Mindy about a previous visit to Earth when Arthur Fonzarelli (special guest star Henry Winkler) arranged a date for him with Laverne DeFazio (special guest star Penny Marshall). Part 2 Mork continues his story about his date with Laverne. When Mindy's father, Fred, discovers that Mork had moved in with Mindy, Deputy Tilwick offers to scare Mork off. Tilwick believes Mork is insane and tries to have him committed. Notes *This originally aired on ABC as an hour-long episode. It was split into two parts for syndication. *Advanced promos showed a glimpse of a deleted scene in which Laverne thinks Mork's name is "Mark" and Fonzie corrects her.Long ABC Promo from 1978 This occurred immediately after she met Mork, so to bypass the joke the second half of the show begins with a voice-over by Laverne asking, "What's this guy Mork look like?" *There was not a traditional pilot shot. Creator Garry Marshall cobbled together footage of of Mork's appearance on Happy Days with clips of Pam Dawber in an unsold pilot called Sister Terri and sold ABC on green-lighting the show. *Pam Dawber did not audition, the role was given to her. The first time she met Robin Williams was on the promotional press tour, prior to shooting episodes.You Tube - Jay Thomas interviews Pam Dawber Williams greeted her with a Russian accent.Pioneers of Television: Remembering Robin Williams *The verbal exchange between Mork and Dr. Litney regarding his anklewatch was repeated practically verbatim in "The Greatest Shmo on Earth," an episode of the animated series. *The episode was novelized at least three times. Mork & Mindy: A Video Novel is a comic-book like paperback novel filled with color stills. Cora, Fonzie and Laverne were all omitted from this version. The paperback novel Mork & Mindy is a novelization by Ralph Church which includes additional storylines from Mork Moves In and Mork Runs Away. An abridged version of the story also appears in ''The Official Mork & Mindy Scrapbook'' in a chapter entitled "The Story of Mork.". *This episode was spoofed in the 2011 porn movie Mork & Mindy: A Dream Zone Parody. Promo Gallery Mork and Mindy Special Henry Winkler Penny Marshall Robin Williams.JPG Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Fonzie talks to Laverne about Mork.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Fonzie sets Laverne up with Mork.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Laverne's taken aback by Mork.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Mork's first report to Orson.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Mork sits on the couch.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Mork visits Fonzie again.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Mork greets Deputy Tilwick.png Mork & Mindy - Deputy Tilwick explains what happend to Mork.png Mork & Mindy - Pilot - Geoffrey Lewis as Deputy Tilwick.png Guest starring *Henry Winkler as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli *Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio *Jeffrey Jacquet as Eugene *Geoffrey Lewis as Deputy Tilwick *Dick Yarmy as Dr. Litney *Michael Prince as The Judge *Jeff Harlan as Bill Mason *Woody Eney as Prosecuting Attorney *Hank Jones as Defense Attorney *Leslie Vallen as Pamela, the Court Reporter References Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 episodes